Rerun Van Pelt more or less began life as a punchline. A 1972 storyline that involved Lucy kicking Linus out of the house more or less ended with her discovering she had a new baby brother. He would make his first on-strip appearance a year later, and after that, be used rather sporadically by Charles Schulz, mostly popping up on the back of his mom's bicycle. However, in the mid-90s, Schulz aged him up to kindergarten, and gradually began using him more and more until he became one of the main characters during the final years of the strip. Indeed, Rerun would star in two of the final Sunday strips in early 2000, well after his older siblings had made their final appearances.
So to be fair, the idea of a special centering around Rerun, who had largely played minor parts, at most, in previous specials, wasn't completely out of left field. And, to be honest, much of I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown, which, like most of the latter day specials, is mostly adapted from numerous strips, is fairly delightful. However, the fourth Peanuts Christmas special (and second in just two years) is hampered by one big problem--it runs 43 minutes for an hour time slot, and there simply isn't enough material to justify that long of a runtime.
For whatever reason, this is the first hour-long special since It's the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown from 15 years earlier, and much of the issues that special had--too much filler, not enough storyline--is repeated in this one (Red Truck also has considerable other problems than just the running time). I'm assuming this is a dictate of ABC, which was probably liking the ratings that A Charlie Brown Christmas (and its new companion, Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales) and figured another hour of Peanuts Christmas fun would improve on whatever struggling sitcom pair the specials would annually pre-empt (indeed, the holiday specials served the tried-and-true function of being schedule spackle, especially at a time of the year when networks were reluctant to launch a new series). If Dog had ran the usual half-hour, it could have been easily the best of the ABC-era specials. But it is just too bloated and unwieldy in its current form.
This one has more of a central plot than other recent specials, as, as the title suggests, Rerun tries to figure out how to get his own dog for Christmas. The chief impediment is Mrs. Van Pelt, who does not want a dog in the house, no matter how much Rerun wants one. He tries to play with Snoopy, who is responsive some of the time, but other times would prefer to just hang out at home instead of romping in the snow. Eventually, Snoopy is persuaded to invite Spike out for a visit, but of course, he has to eventually return to the desert, leaving Rerun about where he was at the beginning.
That might have made a tight 24 minute special, but alas, we get lots of extra filler, some of it amusing (Rerun interacting with his siblings and being surprisingly vicious while roasting them) some of it weird (Rerun getting accused of harassment for innocently asking a classmate to go to Paris with him), and some of it clearly there to pad out the time slot (an update on Snoopy's various siblings, who hadn't been seen in a special since Snoopy's Reunion over a decade earlier, watching Snoopy play a sidewalk Santa, Sally "flying" on Snoopy's doghouse with him). Still, ABC was satisfied with it, as the network ran it every December though 2019.
We largely get a new voice cast for this one, as Corey Padnos, who has voiced Linus since It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown, is the only one returning from Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown, even though that special had aired only four months prior. This would be the only Peanuts outing for Adam Taylor Gordon, who voiced Charlie Brown, Ashley Rose, who voiced Lucy, Hannah Leigh, who voiced Sally, and Nick Price, who voiced Schroeder. Rerun was voiced by Jimmy Bennett, who would return to the role for the next special, and would also go on to be a prominent tween and teen actor, appearing in major parts in such movies as Evan Almighty, Orphan, Star Trek, and Shorts, and co-starring in the short-lived superhero series No Ordinary Family. Once again, Larry Leichliter and Bill Melendez co-directed, David Benoit provided the music, with a number of Vince Guaralidi compositions included on the soundtrack, and the scriptwriter went uncredited, with just "Created by Charles M. Schulz" during the opening.
There's quite a bit to like about I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown. Centering the special around Rerun brought a surprisingly fresh perspective to the specials, and there were a number of amusing situations. But at a good 20 minutes longer than it need be, there is just too much fat and bloat for this one to be really recommended. Figure out how to trim it down to a half-hour special, and maybe you might have something.
Next week: After a three-year hiatus, ABC airs one last new special as the gang is forced to acknowledge He's a Bully, Charlie Brown.
No comments:
Post a Comment